American Samoa is a group of five main islands and two coral atolls in the South Pacific that lies about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. This unincorporated U.S. territory host the National Park of American Samoa with several acres of rainforest, coastal and coral reefs under it's protection. It was comforting the see the brown U.S. National Park signs and to see the park rangers come on board in the familiar uniforms.
Our stop in American Samoa was on the Tutuila island at the capital city of Pago Pago. This is not a shopping and resort type island, there are two hotels in Pago Pago and a few places to shop and eat. What makes this island impressive is the amazing beauty of nature.
When you have been gone from the U.S. for several months and you arrive in port and see American Flags, vehicles driving on the right hand side, U.S. National Park signs and a U.S. Post office you just feel a bit like you are home. I had an immediate sense of welcome and maybe relief to be back on U.S. soil. I found the city of Pago Pago very easy to walk through and on weekends you will catch open markets set up by the locals with a variety of items to sell. I found it interesting that they had a McDonald's in Pago Pago and since they had Wi-Fi it was really crowed.
The land in America Samoa can only be owned by the Samoa people which I totally support. You can however rent buildings and space for a very reasonable amount. They are in need of teachers as so many other places we visited were. I really enjoyed the vibe of the island and would like to go back for an extended stay to get to know the people and the culture.